Without further delay, he walked toward the shelf, stopping just before Agatha, who looked down at him in silence. Maybe he really was too small, he wondered. He stretched out his hand. She released the book without resistance and stepped aside, giving him room to slide it carefully back into its place.
"I'm assuming," he began, "since you made it here, Violet offered some form of enlightenment regarding the agreement between us."
Gazes shifted around the room — meeting, weighing.
"No," Leah said. "Only that you're a friend. For now, at least."
Chion tilted his head slightly to meet her gaze. "Fair enough."
His fingers closed around another book and drew it free. "Let's move past that. To what matters. Your aid — in exchange for fair compensation." He opened the book and retrieved a small slip of paper from within.
Hector's gaze found him without delay. "I don't think fair is enough. Not even close." He reached into his cloak and withdrew a dark parchment. "I, for one, was all for whatever nonsense you had brewing. Really, I was. Until I read this."
The Ravens. Here.
Chion's gaze sharpened, just slightly. If they had reached this far, there was no point in using them — the Council would already know. Irritation crept in. Quick. Controlled.
Violet spoke before it could settle. "I intercepted it from a guard who had already picked it up." Her voice was cool. "I wasn't about to let intelligence on this meeting leak."
Hector gave a tight, amused smile. "We were simply curious why the Council's pests were so agitated and all over the place." His gaze moved — first to Leah, then to Agatha. A quiet nod passed between them. Two answers. "Turns out it's because the devil invoked some ancient blood duel." He looked back at Chion. "Sounds rather damning, don't you think?"
Silence lingered.
"I don't think any compensation you offer should be anything less than those shiny trinkets you Honours students so diligently accumulated." His smile widened. "You know. Before the Chambers."
Chion said nothing. The gazes in the room sharpened on him.
"That was always my first option," he said, calm and measured. "But — don't you think there's better compensation to be had, should I win the Blood Trial?"
Hector's brow twitched. "Now, you see," he drawled, shifting slightly, "that word — win — doesn't exactly fill me with comfort." A glance toward the others. "And I'm quite certain my peers share that sentiment."
"You're crazy enough to stand against a veteran. I'll give you that." His blade tilted idly in his hand. "So I'm sure you're also sensible enough to pay in advance. Something tangible. Or better yet —" the smile widened, just enough — "generous enough to will us your trinkets. You know. For the hustle of it all. Then maybe, maybe, we'll help bury you properly. Out of courtesy."
Chion regarded him with a faint smile. "I appreciate the gesture. Though I doubt it will be necessary."
He placed the book back on the shelf and walked toward the far corner. "I have no plans of falling. Not yet." He pressed the paper against the wall. "But if I do —" a slight tilt of his head — "then I'll leave you this, Hector. Collect it from my corpse. Plunder whatever your heart desires."
His finger traced the precise runic text etched on the paper, then stopped. The wall answered with a heavy groan — obsidian bricks shifting, parting, opening onto a dark stairwell that descended into shadow.
"But since I'm still breathing —" he glanced back, just slightly — "my compensation will be set accordingly."
Leah's gaze found him. "And what exactly," she asked, voice steady, "will we be aiding you with, Eighteen?"
His head tilted, just before he disappeared into the dark.
"Surviving."
"Simply that."
Then he was gone — his form swallowed whole by shadow.
_____
Agatha's gaze moved to Violet without hesitation. "He's too shady," she muttered. "His heartbeat is too still."
Violet glanced back at her. "You're right."
"Then why are you forcing this?" Hector's voice was already rising. "Just from the way he talks, you can tell he's hiding things."
"I know."
"You know?" Disbelief lifted the words.
"Calm down," Leah said quietly. "Violet said we wouldn't get screwed over. That's enough."
Hector turned away with a disgusted sneer. "We'll see. Very soon."
A heartbeat later, Chion emerged from the stairwell — a large chest gripped in both hands, his head barely visible above it. He set it down with a muted thud.
Every eye in the room snapped back to him. Suspicion, undisguised.
He lowered himself into a squat before the chest as the wall groaned shut behind him, drawing a small key from his pocket. "As you're all aware, I was a Wing Major — with several sub-majors within the Moon." The lock clicked. "So I have no particularly fancy weapons or relics to offer."
The lid lifted fully. "But —" his gaze rose to meet theirs — "I'm sure this will be more than adequate."
Their eyes dropped to the chest. And stilled.
Detoxification pills — for blood current oversaturation. Muscle recovery vials. Cognitive enhancement compounds. Medicinal herbs. Uncut Rune-Stones. Stacks of Sigil paper.Poisons — a lot of poisons.
Silence thickened. The question wrote itself plainly across their faces: How does he have this?
The answer was simple. An honours student of the First Subsidiary of the First House of the Wing. Not that he would brag. But still.
Leah's bewilderment dulled first, her gaze sharpening. "Are you really offering everything in this chest? That seems excessively generous."
"She has a point," Hector murmured. "What kind of bargain are you running?"
"When the Blood Trial ends," Chion said, "and if I'm still alive — the Council will attempt to have me killed. Most likely before sunrise. Unfortunately, I'll be in no condition to stop it myself. That's where your role comes in. Ensuring that doesn't happen." His eyes moved between them, one by one.
Agatha spoke. "Don't you think that's rather careless?" Her expression held firm, layered with doubt. "Why would you trust us? With your life, no less."
"Trust you — I don't," Chion replied. "I trust your competence." His gaze shifted to Violet. "And the walking golden standard holding this wreck together."
Leah's frown deepened. "Then why should we trust you? How do we know there aren't other motives behind this?"
"You shouldn't trust me either." His eyes returned to Violet. "Trust her. She'll see this bargain closed — with profit for everyone involved."
Leah's gaze followed. Violet met it and gave a single, quiet nod. The tension in Leah's expression thinned. Slightly.
Chion exhaled, nearly imperceptibly. "Then — may we proceed?"
Hector let out a slow breath. "Yeah." His eyes narrowed. "We'll hear you out, Devil."
"So. What's the plan?"